HELEN CHANG

Art + ___ 

My practice in art includes photography, installation, videography, mixed media sculpture, painting and charcoal. Through my work, I aim to elicit emotional response and thought-provoking internal conversations in the viewers. Viewers are able to perceive my work in their own way, with the work representing my voice in their internal conversations. A degree of uncertainty invites the viewers to engage. For example, Distance (2020) is a conceptual portrayal of sense of time. I strayed from explicit definitions of time and utilized metaphorical representation to create an image that requires a longer glance to understand. In order to translate my concepts to concrete images, I abstract my compositions and subjects to meet these concepts. 

I am deeply intrigued by time. Time is a subject that cannot be explicitly shown, but is always represented or implied; I find the ambiguity exciting. Even in my earlier work catering towards other themes, the concept of time often underlie the themes. I approached my photography work with the idea of an absence of time movement, but a crystallization of a single point in time. In the series, Follow My Lead (2018), I captured motion to present a still and quiet manner as if the subject is dissociated from time and time is omitted from reality. In my later works I developed techniques using multiple mediums like wires and strings in combination with prints that moved towards targeting time as the main theme. For instance, Space-time Continuum (2020) is a metaphorical rendition of the theory of relativity. I alluded to time with lines, strings and layers with my research and understanding of time.  

As I enjoy using multiple mediums to express my concepts and to learn about my preferences, I have experimented with photography, videography, vinyl prints, paint, digital drawing, wires and strings. Some of the mediums I used collaboratively like physical manipulation of photography prints with wires in Distractions (2019) or incorporating paint as a prop in my video, White Rabbit (2019). Digital photography is the material I utilize most often in conjunction with other mediums. Photography provides a crisp image that supplies reality when I desire, but can also be redirected to misrepresent reality as I see fit. The levels of control and versatility are diverse enough to supplement me with even more tools for experimentations among other mediums. 

The goal for my art-making process is to discover and produce innovative combinations of mediums and subjects to convey my intentions and personality. For example, in Distraction (2019) and You’ve Missed the Point (2019), I used wires to create a sharpness of reality. Simultaneously, I constructed an illusion of reality through its three dimensional aspect against the print to illustrate the presence of a facade in our society. Multiple mediums provide opportunities to diverge from clichés and allow me to experiment and innovate. The decisions on materials and intentions consequently incorporate my personality, like a form of self-expression.